Hill-Evans announces $612K in grants awarded to York County organizations

Southeast Delegation    June 9, 2022 | 10:14 AM

YORK, June 9 – State Rep. Carol Hill-Evans, D-York, announced that two York County organizations have been awarded $612,297 for child abuse services, education for second graders about appropriate relationships, and substance abuse and education programs by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.

“Our service organizations really help hold our community together, providing critical education and services to at-risk or abused populations, increasing community safety and providing support for those in treatment programs,” Hill-Evans said. “I am a huge admirer of the York County Children’s Advocacy Center for their clinical care for sexually abused children and educational programs to teach our second graders about appropriate relationships and am very pleased to see their efforts will be supported and expanded by these grants.

“This grant money supports people’s engagement with substance abuse treatment programs.”

The York County Children's Advocacy Center has received three grants.

  • The center will use its $99,996 grant to continue to fund the position of Intake Coordinator. Thanks to the Intake Coordinator, the CAC has been able to rapidly intake a diverse and growing number of referrals of child victims and their caregivers. As CAC receives approximately 5 to 10 referrals a day, the Intake Coordinator has significantly enhanced the agency’s ability to respond to referrals in a timely manner and so enabling direct support staff to focus on the critical work of advocacy and forensic interviews.

  • CAC will use its $99,945 grant to continue the position of Client Services Coordinator to facilitate service delivery to child sexual abuse victims and ensure a safe and welcoming environment. The coordinator will be responsible for greeting, accompanying, and supporting families at the CAC, monitoring and supervising children in waiting areas while caregivers meet with service staff, administering client satisfaction surveys, and providing information and referrals as needed.

  • Its third grant of $311,229 will be used to implement a program for the 2,978 second graders it serves in York County. The PCCD, in collaboration with the Child Maltreatment Solutions Network at Penn State University, announced the Endowment Act funding to support a new pilot prevention research program. Over the last four years, PCCD and CMSN implemented a three-pronged pilot prevention program that served over 16,000 second graders and 14,000 parents. Due to the success of that project, and the need to implement a more universal parent education component, PCCD and CMSN will implement a two-year pilot that will include two programs.

The programs are:

    • Safe Touches. This is a 50-minute puppet-based workshop that will be implemented among second grade students. The evidence-based curriculum teaches children about healthy boundaries, that it is okay to say “no,” and how to get help from safe adults.
    • Smart Parents. This is an adaptation of the evidence-informed Smart Parents program that will be implemented among parents of children under 18. The program teaches parents about healthy sexual development, communicating with children about sexual boundaries, ensuring safety, and obtaining help and resources.

Hill-Evans said Wellspan Health has been awarded $101,127 in Substance Abuse Education and Demand Reduction funds to implement Contingency Management for patients participating in medication assisted treatment programs at practices in Lebanon and Lancaster counties. The goal of this project is to help incentivize patients newly enrolled in MAT to adhere to their scheduled appointments and remain engaged in treatment. Funds will support personnel, incentives for participants, program supplies and equipment, data collection, and operating expenses.